Landscape photography takes us to the most beautiful places around the world and there are so many of them out there that it is impossible to visit them all in a lifetime. There’s no obvious reason to go back to the places we’ve visited, but as a professional landscape photographer with over 30 years of experience, I do it over and over again, going back to the places to take pictures. .
In my latest video on YouTube, I take you back to the place where I took a photo a few weeks ago. But why did I go there?
Second chance
Well, the most obvious reason to revisit a landscape photography location is that the last time you failed for some reason. Maybe your image is out of focus, you decided on the wrong shutter speed, and the moving elements don’t convey the mood you experienced while there. Maybe your composition isn’t working and you want to rebuild it, or you simply timed your exposure. Whatever the reason for your failure, re-visiting this place will give you the opportunity to do it better and come home with a masterpiece.
But I did not fail on this occasion and I am even quite pleased with the photos I took. So why did I go there?
The first time I climbed that mountain top, I wanted to capture a wonderful mountain view at sunrise. The only thing I needed was a clear view of the mountains and valleys. Weather services predict clear skies, but I always check detailed weather maps before walking to my photo spots, as that allows me to work out alternative weather scenarios may occur that are not provided by normal weather services.
Last time resulted in 40% chance of clear sky and another 40% chance of fog. Eventually, I encountered fog, so I couldn’t see beyond about 50 to 60 yards. Wasn’t able to take pictures of Vista, but I got the chance to take a picture of the forest instead. The mist added a wonderful mystical atmosphere to the landscape, I was blown away and I am quite pleased with the results from that day.
Light and weather are different
I’m sure there’s a great vista picture waiting for me on that mountain top and I want to take it. There can be no fog, but how about changing the weather the way we like it? This is not possible, right? That is.
Time is key here. If you are not satisfied with the weather, just wait a few hours or come back when you want. And this is exactly what I did in my latest YouTube video. I climbed the same mountain again and this time I was absolutely certain to get clear skies, although the humidity was around 65 percent, probably enough for fog. But since the temperature is much higher than the dew point, I will definitely get clear skies that day. I just need to specify that the sun will rise in a position where it will add to my potential composition.
Get acquainted with the place
When we are completely new to a place, we may take pictures, but do we understand everything there? Where will the sun rise, set, how will the shadow cast, how will a different direction or quality of light change the contrast in my scene, how will the scene change over time? another point of the year?
Over the years, I have developed the ability to imagine. But what I learned was that the accuracy of the “imagination part” of my brain became much better, the more data I “feed” it with. This simply means, the more I stick with a place, the more landscapes I experience with different conditions, the better my imagination seems to be. So the more often I visit a place, the better I can visualize how it will play out with different weather and lighting situations.
Take advantage of diversity
Landscape photography requires visiting different places, but for me, it’s not all about just visiting different places. This is what travel photography is all about. Landscape photography is about observing, understanding, interpreting the landscape and creating works of art that I, and possibly my clients, want to hang on their walls. Revisiting a place not only gives me completely different possibilities for subjects and stories, but it also allows me to become a better photographer, learn more about the place and even is to improve my photography when I have captured a masterpiece.
In the video above, you can join me on an exciting landscape photography adventure in the Austrian Alps where I revisited a beautiful place with me. Sony a7r IV and where I also give a lot of photography tips.
